A/N - Thank you very much for all of your reviews. I'm really glad you're enjoying this, and I hope you'll still enjoy when you read the next few chapters... lol Please let me know what you think.

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The Gift

Chapter Four - What Are We Gonna Do?

Chandler woke up early the next morning and glanced around the room, his eyes finally landing on the beautiful woman lying next to him. He watched her as she slept soundly beside him. He noticed that his hand was still resting on her stomach and he moved it slowly, amazed that his baby was growing inside of her. Of all the women in the world, he knew that she was the only one that he wanted to carry his baby. And after last night, he knew that things could easily be awkward between them. He had finally admitted that he wanted her, and she hadn't laughed in his face. She hadn't really had much of a reaction at all - shock, of course, but nothing like he had expected. He wasn't sure what to do about anything now.

Monica stirred and Chandler removed his hand from her stomach. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at him, forgetting for a moment why he was in bed with her. When she cleared her mind, she smiled at him. "Good morning," she said quietly.

"Good morning," he replied. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah. Very well," she responded and moved her hands to her stomach. "I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon. Are you going?"

"Of course I am. I guess the doctor will do another pregnancy test, huh?"

"Yeah... Chandler, I hope that this isn't just a false alarm, but what if it is? What do we do then?" Monica asked worriedly.

"Monica, I don't think that this is a false alarm, but if it is, we'll just have to think about what to do next. All I know is that I really want to have a baby with you," Chandler smiled at her and reached over to brush her hair away from her face.

She returned his smile and leaned over to kiss his forehead. "You are such a wonderful friend," she whispered. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You'll never have to worry about that, Mon, because I'm always going to be there for you. I promise."

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"What is taking so long?" Chandler asked impatiently as he paced around the examining room he and Monica were waiting in.

"Chandler, just calm down for a few minutes. The doctor will be back soon, I'm sure."

"What if something was wrong? I don't know what I'd do if something was wrong with you, Mon."

"Chandler, you're freaking me out. I'm fine. These appointments always take forever. Trust me." She wasn't sure if she was trying to convince Chandler or herself.

A few agonizing seconds later, the doctor lightly knocked on the door and entered the room. "Hello, Monica," the woman smiled, looking up from the chart she was holding only for a moment. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Just a little anxious," she replied. "So, was the home pregnancy test right? Am I really pregnant?" She wasn't going to wait around for the doctor.

"Yes, you're definitely pregnant," the doctor replied. "Congratulations."

Monica looked up at Chandler with tears in her eyes. "We're having a baby," she whispered as he took her hand in his.

He smiled slightly and looked back to the doctor. "Is she okay?" For some strange reason, he had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

The doctor paused before answering. "Let's just finish the exam and make sure," she smiled weakly and turned back to Monica.

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Chandler led Monica into her apartment later that afternoon and helped her sit down on the couch. Neither of them were sure how to feel at the moment. The pregnancy was supposed to be good news, but the doctor's accompanying warning certainly wasn't.

"Mon? You okay?" Chandler asked. He knew that she wasn't, but he had to ask. He needed to do something for her.

"Yeah, I... I'll be fine," she answered rather unconvincingly. "I just have to be careful, right?"

"Right. Just do the best you can, and everything will be fine. I'll be here to help. You don't have a thing to worry about." He tilted her chin up so her eyes met his. "Nothing's gonna go wrong, Mon."

She wiped a tear from her cheek and tried to smile at him. It was a half smile, but it was the best she could manage under the circumstances. "Should we tell everyone now or wait a little longer? You know...just in case," she added quietly.

"Tell everyone what?" Joey asked when he entered the apartment, followed by Phoebe.

"Oh! You're pregnant!" Phoebe exclaimed excitedly. "I knew it!"

Monica looked at Chandler, then back at Phoebe, and nodded. "Yeah, I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant?! It worked?!" Rachel exclaimed when she came through the still open door. Ross was close on her heels.

"Yeah, it worked," Chandler replied quietly.

"That's great news, right?" Joey asked. "You two don't seem very excited about it."

"We are, we are," Chandler assured him. "It's just that... Well, the doctor is a little worried about Monica."

"Monica, what's wrong?" Ross asked worriedly, going into "big brother" mode. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine... She just thinks that this could be a difficult pregnancy. I have to be really careful."

"So you're really careful. Everything will be fine, right?" Rachel looked to Chandler.

"Yeah. She'll be fine. It just shook her up a little," he answered and rubbed Monica's shoulders. "And I'm gonna be there the whole time to make sure she's all right. She's gonna be sick of me by the time the baby gets here," he chuckled and kissed the top of her head.

"You should make him bring you breakfast in bed every morning," Phoebe began. "And foot rubs would be nice. Maybe he could do a little of your cleaning."

"Yeah, he might regret getting himself into this," Monica teased, smiling slightly at Chandler.

"I could never regret this," he replied sincerely and placed his hands on her stomach.

She smiled and leaned against him. "You'll be thinking differently when I come knocking on your door at three in the morning because I need you to make an ice cream run."

"Well guys, we just wanted to check on you, but we're gonna go now," Phoebe said, trying to usher the others out of the room. She could see that Chandler and Monica needed some time alone.

"I didn't come to check on her," Joey said, staying put in his spot in the living room. "I mean, I did, but I also wanted something to eat. I'm not ready to go, Pheebs."

Phoebe had already managed to push Ross and Rachel into the hallway and she grabbed Joey's arm. "Come on. I'll satisfy your appetite," she whispered and effortlessly pulled him out the door.

"What was that all about?" Chandler laughed when he was alone with Monica again.

"I don't know, but they're acting a little strange," Monica replied and stood up to walk over to the kitchen. She took two bottles of water from the refrigerator, then walked over to hand one to Chandler. She sat down in the armchair and looked at Chandler thoughtfully.

Chandler took a drink from the bottle and saw that Monica was looking at him strangely. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. I just... I think that we should talk."

"About what?" he asked. "The baby?" He knew that she was most likely referring to his confession the night before, but he didn't want to jump to any conclusions. He wanted to avoid that conversation at the moment.

"No, not the baby. About what you told me last night."

"Oh. That," Chandler said quietly. "Listen, Mon. Just forget that I ever said anything. You don't need to worry about that, okay?"

"Chandler, I can't just forget about it. This is big," she replied. She really needed to know what was going on in his head.

He sighed and took her hand. "Listen, Mon. I care about you. You're one of the most important people in my life. No, you're the most important person in my life. I don't want to ruin what we have because of my silly fantasies."

"Fantasies?"

"Well... Maybe that wasn't the right word," he said. "I do have feelings for you. I don't think any man in his right mind wouldn't have some sort of feelings for you."

"Thank you, Chandler. I'm flattered. But are these feelings more like 'I'd really like to get her into bed' feelings or 'I'd really like to spend my life with her' feelings?"

He hesitated. "Definitely the second one," he answered honestly.

"So can you actually picture us together?" Monica asked curiously. She knew that she had. Since they had decided to have a baby together, she had been picturing them together with their baby. As a family.

"Well, yeah. I'm not going to lie to you, Mon. I would love to have a chance to make you happy for the rest of your life. But I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything about this because I finally admitted my feelings to you. You don't need to worry about anything right now. You're pregnant. You need to take care of yourself and the baby. Just forget about it. Don't worry about this, okay?"

She nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. Okay," she said quietly. "I'll try not to worry about it, Chandler, but I'm not going to be able to forget it. I don't think I want to."

He looked confused. "You don't want to? What do you mean?"

"Well, we're having a baby together now, and it's kind of nice to know that the father of my child thinks of me that way."

"I'm glad... Just don't let this stress you out, okay? You know what the doctor said. Just take it easy... We're gonna be fine. No matter what happens, I'm always going to be here for you - and the baby. I promise."

"But what if -"

"Shh... Don't worry about it, Mon. Why don't you go and lie down for awhile? I'll come back to check on you later tonight."

"Okay," she agreed reluctantly. "I don't want things to be weird with us, okay? Maybe... I don't know. Maybe I'll know what I want to say after a nap," she smiled weakly. "I'll be expecting you later."

"I'll be here," he assured her and kissed her forehead gently. "Have a nice nap," he called as he left the apartment.

Monica sighed before getting up from the couch and walking into her room. She pulled back the covers and crawled into bed. She wasn't sure if she would be able to sleep, but she was exhausted. When she put her head on her pillow, she glanced over at the other side of the bed - the side that Chandler had slept on the night before. She pulled the other pillow to her and could still smell him. "Oh, Chandler... What are we gonna do?"